Just before receiving the coveted award on Wednesday, the experienced midfielder led his teammates to a 2-1 loss to coach Milutin Sredojevic's troops at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium on Tuesday night.

The loss ended City's unbeaten run since their 2-0 loss to Mamelodi Sundowns in the league back in August and says he made a great choice by staying put in Polokwane.

“I think I did the best move by staying at Polokwane City. Like today, I am receiving an award and who would have known? Maybe I wouldn’t have been playing at Pirates,” he added.

“The team has been taking good care of me and I am enjoying my stay here,” continued the skipper.

The 36-year-old joined City on a six-month loan deal from SuperSport, but later turned down a lucrative offer from the Buccaneers after completing the six month contract.

For Polokwane City, the Soweto-born midfielder has become a key figure where he easily spreads passes in search of strikers such as Rodney Ramagalela and also finds the back of the net with his well-drilled set pieces.

Moreover, he said he worked hard on practising his free kicks because when he was young, he couldn't take long shots at goal, but admits there is still a long way to find perfection.

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“Where I grew up in Soweto, because I couldn’t take long shots and I was young, I taught myself to curl the ball (from distance),” Maluleke explained.

“I am happy with my free-kicks at the moment but I think I can improve as time goes on,” he concluded.

The City stalwart and his teammates will now hope to return to winning ways when they meet AmaZulu on Sunday.